deficit Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Like any fun but exhausting activity, you're anxious for it to be over, but then you miss it when it is. In what seemed like a blink of the eye, TIFF 2007 has wrapped. Eastern Promises nabbed the People's Choice prize, and the wonderful My Winnipeg grabbed top Canadian honors. (Rejoice!) But there was still lots of fun, great films, and some fest craziness that came before the awards were handed out.

My favorite story from TIFF came from a friend who had gone to see Starting Out in the Evening. She loved the film, and said that the end had made her teary-eyed. Impressed with Frank Langella's performance, she walked up to him as she was leaving the theater and told him so. "Are you crying?" he asked, and then wiped her tears away. That Frank is a slick, slick man.

On Wednesday, The Last Lear Q&A with Rituparno Ghosh was cut short when someone pulled the fire alarm. As is usually the case when the bell starts ringing, everyone ignored it and we continued the discussion. (How often do people actually pay attention to those things from the get-go?) Then, mid-sentence, Ghosh was cut short and we were told to exit the theater immediately, because it wasn't a drill as they initially assumed. Whoops. At least it didn't happen during the film. Pisay, on the other hand, had a few technical problems -- thankfully, it was a digital screening, so we didn't end up missing anything.

Deficit drops you directly into a day in the life of an upper-class, college-aged brat in a posh suburban neighborhood outside of Mexico City. Gael Garcia Bernal directs, as well as stars as the main character, Cristobal, and as the film opens we see him driving over rundown streets with a friend, a quizzical expression on his face, giving off the vibe that we're about to enter some kind of crime drama. In a way, we are -- there are hints and accusations peppered throughout that perhaps Cristobal's father is some kind of drug lord, but Bernal isn't interested in bringing these things to the forefront. Instead, he confines any possible backstory to the whispers of the servants, who are both frightened of their employers and in awe of them. One of them, Anan, a dark-skinned Mexican of Indian descent played by Tenoch Huerta Mejia, is propped up as something of a rival to Cristobal even though they are worlds apart. He endures racist snickering and even slurs by the houseguests and zeroes in on one upper-class girl who has captured his attention.

While Anan is pining away and seething at his own poverty, Cristobal is suffering from a more lightweight concern -- his girlfriend, Mafer (Ana Serradilla) is on her way to the pool party, but has gotten lost and needs precise directions in order to get there. The problem is that Cristobal has met someone else at the party, Dolores (Luz Cipriota) and doesn't want Mafer showing up at all. There's a lot of comedy in this film, mixed in and surrounding the overall class tensions and underlying current of criminality, and it's to the credit of Bernal that it all meshes together so well. When dramatic events present themselves, such as Cristobal's receiving a rejection letter from Harvard in the mail, the film doesn't linger on them or turn them into grist for a debate or an argument, it simply acknowledges and moves on. As I watched Deficit at a recent screening, I noticed the audience members paying very close attention, undoubtedly because they had no idea where this film was going but were intrigued by the possibilities.

Just a few weeks ago, Erik was telling us about Gael García Bernal being offered the role of the bad guy in the latest Bourne flick, The Bourne Ultimatum, which is shooting in Tangier. Today, sadly, the website Cinematic Happenings Under Development (CHUD) reports that they have it straight from Bernal himself that he is not going to take the part. Bernal was in New York for a press day for Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu's Babel, when CHUD reporter Devin Faraci asked him what's up with Bourne. While Bernal reportedly said that he loves the Bourne movies, he's too busy at the moment finishing up his directorial debut, Déficit, to take on the role of the Bourne villain.

Personally, I'm bummed that Bernal isn't able to take on this role. He has great range as an actor, and he played it up a little rough in Babel. I'd love to see what Bernal would do with the role of an evil villain. I've loved him in everything I've seen him in, and while he does have a pretty face, what's to say a bad guy has to be rough and ugly? I'm also intrigued to see what Bernal does behind the camera with Déficit. Not a lot is known about the film yet, other than it's about a clash between social classes at a family gathering and that it's set in Mexico (and presumably is in Spanish). One of the things I like best about Bernal is his ability to bounce between different projects. If he turns out to be as good behind the camera as he is in front of it, I guess we can all get over not getting to see him in Bourne.

But still, wouldn't it have been fun to see Bernal and Matt Damon going at each other in some good old hand-to-hand combat? Too bad.

[ via Comingsoon.net ]